Child's Game
by AngeliqueOleander69
Summary: The wind wispered her name, and the sakura blossoms flitted across the open field. Naruto as alone in the clearing, with a letter.


** Little drabble I got from a memory, of sitting in fields and playing with flowers and dreaming about boys. Anyway, read, review. Thanks!**

Child's Game

The cool May wind whisked about Naruto's tanned face. His smile genuine and the sky held nothing to his bursting cobalt eyes. It was always like that when he was with her. She completed him, made him whole. Naruto loved Sakura.

The memories past seemed to fly way in the gusts that blew across his whiskered face. The sun had yet to set just yet, but was well on its way down. Twilight made everything much more beautiful. Naruto sat in the pale pasture, alone with the dusk and nature. His face smoothed and tranquil, he stared at the sky with closed eyes. His head lolled on his shoulders, only propped up by his arms, and locked elbows braced against the ground. Naruto looked utterly peaceful. On the outside, but his inner turmoil hardly ever showed through the well woven mask most took at face value.

A deep breath in, a deep breath out. That was the only way he could think to handle this. Under his left palm, pressed into the dirt, was a letter.

It had been a surprise; he had just gotten back from a mission that lasted a little longer than expected. Naruto was glad to be home again. Sakura wasn't at the hospital like usual, not with Tsunade either. But he didn't let it bother him, Sakura was free to leave and go where ever she wanted, she wasn't his to restrict. Naruto would probably see her tomorrow anyhow.

When he walked through his bedroom door, it was the 1st thing he saw. The letter. That damn letter. It was on his bedside table, perfectly balanced on an empty ramen cup.

Naruto walked to it and was reasonably curious. He opened the letter. He recognized Sakura's handwriting immediately. His heart sped up from her perfume alone that wafted from the card. Naruto closed his eyes, breathed deeply, opened his eyes and read:

_Dear Naruto, _

_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You've been there for me, ever since I can remember; when the kids at the Academy used to make fun of me for my forehead, you would stand up and yell that you would marry me, when Sasuke left, you were the only reason I didn't fall apart. I have you to thank. I love you for that. _

_I can't bear the thought of telling you this in person, as cowardly as I am. I don't love you. I never will love you. Not like I do Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry. I have left the village in search of him. Please don't follow me; I want to save Sasuke on my own. I'm sorry. Goodbye, Naruto_

_Forever Grateful,_

_Sakura _

His knees collapsed, unable to hold this insufferable weight. He fell to his knees, his arms couldn't keep the suddenly heavy epistle upright. He buckled inward, wanting to get rid of the world. His eyes saw nothing, ears heard nothing. Naruto collapsed.

That was this morning. He had come to the field today, at high noon, to reminisce. To remember what joy feels like, to remember team 7. To just…. Be.

Naruto sat for hours, watching the sakura blossoms fall from their trees and drift along to the edges of the world, never to be seen again. The only movement he made was a small one. He picked up the flower he was picked up at the Yakamana Flower shop for her. It was a red and white lily. The pallid tips contrasted brightly with the velvet crimson of the centre of the blossom. The soft petals dipped in the breeze, billowing as if waving.

Naruto stared at the elegant lily, and it taunted him. Its purity and ignorance of the world and misery around it made it somehow tantalizing. Naruto plucked a petal off of the bloom.

She loves me. The zephyr pulled the flower part from his hand and threw it into the air grandly. The wind carried it down the meadow out of sight, out of his life. He pulled another.

She loves me not.

The flower leaf floated, glided down to the letter in Naruto's hand. It kissed the back of his palm, lightly caressing, comforting the teenager. Another and another pulled off and thrown to the wind.

She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. She loves me not.

The last petal fell. Alongside it, a drop followed the scarlet and ivory bloom, landing in the fertile soil. And Naruto wept.

**That was a lot more depressing than I started it out. **

**And the flower did have meaning, a lily means Innocence, a white lily means r****eturn of happiness, purity of heart, and sweetness, while a red one means eternal, blissful love. ****Thanks for reading! Please review, it doesn't take long, and it makes my day: D ily ppls.**

**~Angelique 3**


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